1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to semiconductor processing equipment, and more particularly to interfacing with process controllers for such equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Equipment used for semiconductor processing typically requires components designed to operate in environmentally hostile areas. Such areas may contain hazardous temperatures, chemicals, vapors, or liquids. These areas are often “clean” areas with strict requirements and procedures for preventing outside contamination. Replacing a component in such an area often requires a complete shutdown of the processing tool while a technician replaces the failed component, after which the clean area must be recertified. This is a time, resource, and manpower intensive process.
For example, the polishing heads of CMP tools possess numerous mechanical and electrical components that create several different points of failure in such a clean environment. In many cases, it is undesirable to make changes to these components because such a change would upset a carefully configured system, resulting in decreased yields and other manufacturing defects. This risk causes many end users to be hesitant to upgrade their systems and instead accept problems and limitations of obsolete hardware.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus to provide an interface to the wafer polishing head that requires a minimum number of components to be present in the clean area, while also providing a transparent upgrade path for the end user of the device.